


Coffee

by sincerely_v



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Coffee, F/F, Fluff, Fluffity fluff fluff FLUFF, Series, smolgayofficerwithaheartofgoldandtheswagerofachampion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-23 21:57:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7481439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sincerely_v/pseuds/sincerely_v
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Small series about the ever increasing number of coffees Waverly owes Nicole until she finally is able to pay her dues to officer haughtstuff. It is set in canon and gives more of a build and background to their relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

A/N I wrote this fluffy three shot so my friend would indulge my fic request

 

Nicole walked outside of Shorty’s, slightly flustered from what just happened. She pulled her coat in tighter not quite used to winter coming this early. She walked the three blocks back to the station her mind only on one thing, Waverly. She desperately hoped that the tiny brunette would follow through on the coffee, regardless of the boy man in her life. When Nicole moved to town, the first person she saw asked her if she was a Wyatt Earp fan. Nicole hadn’t really researched the town at all, it was just her assignment. The nosy gas station clerk seemed relieved at that but he still gave her a warning to stay away from the Earps. That wasn’t the first warning she got either. Even the Sheriff mentioned that odd things happen around that family.

Nicole became a cop because she loved gathering clues and solving puzzles. She took it upon herself to figure out what it was about the Earps that had everyone on edge. It didn’t take much of asking around to find out that there were two sisters left in town. Every person Nicole casually brought it up with had the same thing to say, Wynonna was trouble and Waverly was an angel. The more she learned the more she wanted to meet them. She spent another week just learning about the Wyatt Earp lore and the strange energy his legacy had over the town. Then, she finally got enough courage to go down to Shorty’s and “run into” one of the Earps.

Every one she had talked to had failed to mention how beautiful and adorable Waverly Earp was. She had planned on going in, saying hello, and leaving but she was instantly smitten. The five minute interaction led her to now, walking down the street almost into traffic, thinking about whether or not Waverly Earp was going to get coffee with her. Maybe the town was right; the Earp girls are trouble because they put a spell on you.

After four days, Nicole resigned herself to the idea that the call wasn’t going to come. By this point, the other Earp had already commandeered the police station and was setting up shop with a badge toting government agent .Wynonna did not have the same effect on Nicole. Where Waverly was soft, Wynonna was spikey. Where Waverly smiled, Wynonna grimaced. They were like the sun and the moon just with similar bone structures.

Nedley didn’t like the fact that he was being put in the back seat in his own town so he tasked Nicole to gather as much intel as she could. Her first attempt didn’t go so well. She knocked on the door with a package from something top secret and official and her kindness was returned with threats of treason. Needless to say, she skipped lunch.

She decided instead to man the scanner for anything the small town would offer. A call came in for road side assistance and she eagerly grabbed her keys to get out of the office.  Twenty miles outside of the town lines a red jeep was pulled over and smoke was fuming from the hood. Nicole thought the open cabin car wasn’t the best idea since the weather had already turned towards the heavy jacket side. When she pulled up, she spotted a buff guy yelling at something. As she got closer, she smiled at the familiar brunette.

“Everything alright here?” She hooked her thumbs into her belt and sauntered around the car.

The meat head turned around and scowled. “Yeah we’re good,” he said dismissively.

Nicole was used to being talked down to by men in this town. Some of them were still in the mindset that female was not synonymous with authority, power, or brains. The chump in front of her was a perfect example of the Australopithecine population that had somehow survived extinction and set up shop in Purgatory.  The only reason she didn’t assert herself more was the shy girl a few paces away who had her sleeveless arms crossed against her stomach and her head hung low.

“You okay Waverly?” she asked softly.

“I said we were fine,” he interrupted.

Nicole cocked her head to him, rolling her eyes. “I used to work on my jeep all the time. If you let me take a look, I might be able to get you out of here without a tow.” Her offer was directed only to Waverly.

“You wouldn’t mind?” the girl finally said.

Nicole gave her signature grin. “Not a bit.” She instructed a reluctant ape to pop the hood. She took off her Stetson and waved it over the remaining smoke coming from the hood. She set the hat down and braced her hands on the sides analyzing what she was working with. She kind of lied because her jeep wasn’t even close to this model but she figured they were built similarly.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Waverly shake a bit and rub her hands over her arms. She pulled her head out of the hood and took off her jacket. “Here,” she said, placing it around Waverly’s shoulders, “Can’t really work with all that bulk anyways.” Waverly took it graciously and snuggled into it. While Nicole refocused to the car, she may have brought the lapel into her nose smelling a mixture of gasoline and coconut. She cocked her head to the side not seeing Nicole as a coconut person. She didn’t really know much of what kind of person Nicole was but that extra fact made her eve more intrigued.

She didn’t want to seem completely useless so she leaned over peering at metal work she knew nothing about. Nicole thought she was adorable trying to be of assistance. After a few moments of silence, Nicole finally asked, “So…is that the boy man?” She turned her head, meeting Waverly’s hazel eyes. Or were they browner? She was going to need to investigate it later when her hands weren’t inside over heated metal.

“That would be Champ, yes.” Her eyes downturned like even saying his name was tiring.

“Well, you need to tell Champ that he needs to be more careful about his oil levels, I think he fried the engine.” She pulled her hands out of the hood, pulling along the oil stick. It was beyond dry. “I keep a bottle of 5W-30 in the back of the squad car. It might make it run to get to a body shop.” She headed to her car and gave a slight head nod to Champ who was lounging in the driver’s seat.

She walked back with the silver Valvoline bottle and handed the stick to Waverly. The girl looked extremely interested in what was happening. Nicole picked up on it and started to explain what she was doing. “The stick you’re holding tells you how much oil you have that circulates through your engine and transmission.” She pointed to each of the parts she was talking about.  “You’re supposed to get it changed every few thousand miles but this looks like it has been going for way past that.”

She took the stick from Waverly’s hand and replaced it with the bottle of oil. She unscrewed the oil valve and put the cap in the corner. “Okay so open the bottle and you’re going to pour it right there.” She pulled Waverly a little farther under the hood and directed her.

“I’m not going to break it?” Waverly asked unsure.

“No…” Nicole laughed, “Just don’t miss the hole.” Waverly began to slowly pour the bottle but her hand was shaking as she tipped it. Nicole wrapped around her and stabilized the bottle with her left hand and held Waverly’s hands in place with her right. She ended up having her face pushed slightly into brown curls that smelled like rosemary. “Tip it all the way in…” her voice was low and soft, “…just…like…that.”

Even after the bottle was empty they stayed in that position for a moment, neither talking or moving. “Waves, can I start it yet?” Champ yelled from the car. Nicole moved back, taking the bottle with her. They both avoided looking directly at each other but the guilty smiles were enough. They both reached for the cap knocking hands together and launching it to the ground.

“One second,” Nicole shouted as she got to her knees looking for the piece of plastic. Waverly joined her until she finally found it sitting behind the tire in a pile of leaves. She held it up in front of Nicole, placing it carefully in the palm of her hands, avoiding any physical contact.  She screwed it on and closed the hood, giving Champ a thumbs up.

The engine sputtered several times until it finally came to life. As the pistons revved, Waverly jumped to herself clapping. “I can’t believe that worked!”

Nicole put her Stetson on and lowered it with her head. “All in a day’s work ma’am.” She started to walk back to her car while Waverly stood there with a confused look on her face. She opened the door and began to climb in when Waverly ran up to the side.

She slumped off the jacket and handed it to her adding, “Can I pay you for the oil or something? You saved our butts out here.” Nicole couldn’t help the smile at the fact that Waverly used the word “butt” still.  She thought over what to say before landing on the perfect line.

“I guess this just means you owe me two coffees now.” Waverly took a step back as Nicole shut the door, window still open. “But Waves…” she liked the way the nickname Champ used rolled off her tongue.

“Yeah?” She responded eagerly walking back to the police door.

“Leave the boy man at home.” She drove down a little ways and pulled a U-turn, planning on following them into town to a body shop.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of the Coffee Series. Will our couple ever share a beautiful caffeinated brew?!?!

a/n so I am changing some of the stuff that happened in canon to make it flow better into the buildup of the wayhaught relationship (also excluding the Jack the ripper part)

 

Nicole was once again manning the desk when a call came in over the radio about a suspicious death. She walked over to Nedley’s office and knocked lightly on the door, surprising the older man. After giving him the details, she was instructed to give the case to Agent Dolls. This was not a task she enjoyed the past few days. Since the first threat of treason, she didn’t feel like doing anything for the feds. She understood why there was always jurisdictional fiascos when locals and government types had to work together.

She walked up to the door and knocked as loudly as she could so there was no misunderstanding. After several moments and shuffling sounds from the other room, Dolls curt voice came through the pine granting her permission to entrance. Nicole was planning on giving him the same tone back as she told him about the case but one look at a small brunette sitting at the table softened her.

“Hey, you asked to be alerted whenever things came over the wire that seem unusual.” She tried to focus her attention on Dolls but her eyes shifted over. He folded his arms behind his back and told her they would meet them there. Even though his tone said the conversation was over, Nicole hung back a little longer trying to say something to Waverly but the girl wouldn’t look up. She began to close the door and Waverly finally put her head up allowing Nicole to throw a smile and a wave her way. The door was almost completely closed but Nicole swore she saw a blush on the bartender.

Nicole had planned to stay back at the station but Nedley wanted eyes on the BBD. She reluctantly was the back seat audience of Wynonna and Doll’s back and forth banter all the way into the city. They spent several hours there collecting surveillance and eye witness reports but Dolls wouldn’t let Nicole help with anything. By night fall, she was dropped back off to the station with nothing to report and a kink in her neck from the hand cuff bar in the back of the SUV.

The only grace Dolls bestowed her was ordering an extra coffee as they came back into town. She sipped on it aggressively, thinking about why she wasted her day away. Her frustration led to a lack of awareness and as she opened the door to front of the station, she ran into something small causing the hot drink to pour down her chest.  

“Oh my gosh!” A mousy voice exclaimed. Nicole didn’t even have time to be angry because the hazel eyes in front of her were so apologetic. She held her hands out to the side, one still holding the dripping cup, the other just dripping brown. She shook the free hand and brought it back down to her chest, uselessly wiping away the heat. “Let me get you a towel or something.”

They were standing in the hallway, a brown liquid pooling at their feet. Waverly started patting her hands around the nearest surfaces looking for something that could soak it up. She grabbed a napkin from under a half-eaten donut and pushed it to Nicole’s chest. The sudden movement surprised the red head, causing her to jump slightly. “Still hot Waves!”

She didn’t even bother correcting her use of the nickname again. Instead she put the cup on the counter and began unbuttoning her uniform shirt. Once the buttons were undone, she pulled it out from her pants and took it off leaving a white tank with a large stain on the front. Nicole used the dry parts of the blue shirt to dab her pants and the tops of her shoes. Waverly was still standing very close trying to help.

“I am so sorry Nicole, I wasn’t paying attention at all.” Nicole looked up and smiled as best she could to reassure her.

“It’s fine…the universe was telling me I didn’t need that coffee.” She placed the shirt on the counter and knelt over to undo her boots, slipping out of them one by one. She didn’t realize that without them she wasn’t much taller than Waverly.

“I could get you another one,” Waverly offered.

“You mean another three. You already owe me two,” Nicole bit back.

Waverly ducked her head and bit her lip. The officer was right, she was in debt a few hot beverages. “I guess just add it to my tab.”

“Oh I will.” She flashed a big smile again.

Waverly stared at her, studying something. She cocked her head to the side slightly but didn’t say anything. Nicole wasn’t sure what was happening but she didn’t interrupt. Finally, Waverly reached out her hand, a movement that once again surprised the officer. She pushed a stray piece of red hair behind Nicole’s ear and let her finger linger just a bit longer at the back of the ear. “I’m going to get a mop or something.” She started to walk away but Nicole grabbed her hand, turning her back.

There was a moment where she wasn’t really sure why she had done that or what she was going to do. Waverly stared down at the hand on her arm and traced her eyes up the attached bicep all the way up to the owner’s glinting eyes. It wasn’t a look of control or fear but nervousness. In the last moment, Nicole chickened out of whatever her body was deciding to do and let go. “It’s okay, I’ll get it,” she finally said.

Waverly let out a breath and tried to muster up an okay but it came out more of a mix of ‘sure’, ‘ok’, and ‘yeah’. The final result was akin to ‘sur-k-eah’.

“See you tomorrow?” Waverly asked hopefully, regaining her ability to speak English.

“You do owe me so I hope so.” While Waverly left the department, Nicole let out a long breath and scolded herself for not respecting that her flirting was getting in the way of a relationship. She walked to the utility closet and found a mop, hoping the cleaning would take her mind off of other things.

The next morning, she was beaten to work by Dolls and Wynonna. She walked by their office while they whispered about hands and diaries. She shrugged it off and went to the coffee machine. The burnt glass was somehow more unappealing than the day before. The last person on shift hadn’t even bothered to toss out the thick brown liquid from the day before. She poured it out in the sink and swore she saw a piece of green floating on top, meaning yesterday’s coffee might not have been as fresh as she thought. She was going to wash it out and brew a fresh batch but when she went to look for the dish soap, it was nowhere to be found. “Great,” she muttered to herself. She dropped it in the sink and went back to her desk, tired and frustrated.

The bell rang at the desk and she almost didn’t want to look up from rubbing her temples. She was happy she did because Waverly was standing there all smiles and sunshine. Nicole popped up from her desk and floated over, hands behind her back. Her smile only fell  between a three and four because of the lack of caffeine.

“Morning Officer!” Waverly waved. As she came through, Wynonna popped out of the office and sauntered over as well.

“Good morning, tolerable Earp,” Nicole teased. Wynonna glared but didn’t say anything because her face was stuffed with a powdered sugar donut. Nicole walked up to the counter and leaned over. Her mouth unconsciously watered when she spotted two coffee cups still steaming in Waverly’s hand. The said hand reached up and started moving towards the table.

Before Nicole could ask if it was for her, quick talons swooped in and stole the cup away. Wynonna took a large swig back and licked the remaining sugar off her lips. “It could use some whiskey but it’ll work. Thanks, sis.”

“That wasn’t for yo-” She gave up, knowing that it wasn’t going to help. She turned back to the officer resigned to fork over the coffee she had bought for herself. Before she could hand it off, Wynonna doubled back and grabbed it. “Dolls says thank you too.”

“Wynonna!” Waverly called out to deaf ears. She rolled her eyes annoyed because she knew damn well her sister could hear her. She scrunched her nose up as she faced the disappointed officer. She pointed her thumb over her shoulder to the disappearing heir.

“That was supposed to be part one of my payments to you…Kind of hard to have a coffee date without coffee.” She realized her mistake quickly and began rambling. “Coffee time…Coffee interaction…drinking while interacting with words.”

“No worries, I already had one,” Nicole lied, trying to make her feel better and to stop her rambling. “It was the thought that counts, really.”

“So, I only owe you two?” Waverly scooted closer to the counter and played with the edges of the cracked wood.

“Oh no, you still owe me three…” She pushed off the counter to her desk. “…I would hate to lose the opportunity to ‘drink while interacting with words’, “ she added with a wink.

Waverly’s face turned red and she was going to add something but a muffled voice called her back to the office. She gave a small wave bye and scooted down the hall way, hell bent on giving Wynonna a piece of her mind.

Nicole crashed back into her chair, smiling like a fool but still under caffeinated. She stayed that way even when they got the call that Wynonna had put herself in a bad position, once again. There were multiple cop cars and one large black SUV stationed outside of the hostage situation.

“What did she do this time?” Nicole directed her question to Dolls while she assessed the surroundings.

“She traded herself for some of the hostages.” He didn’t even look at her as he said it.

Nicole tried pressing for more information. “Do you have an ID on the rest of the hostages?”  He shook his head _no_. She looked around again and saw a familiar truck in the alley way. “Isn’t that Champ’s truck?” she asked.

“Waverly’s boyfriend?”

She didn’t like his name and Waverly’s in the same line of thought. “Unfortunately,” she deadpanned.

“This makes things a little more complicated. I need you to call Waverly and explain to her the situation.” He slapped the pad of paper in his hand and scrawled a number down. “We need to get in there.”

Nicole took out her phone and called the number she was given. This wasn’t exactly how she wanted to get her number but it would work. The phone rang forever until it was finally picked up.

“Waverly, something has happened with Champ and Wynonna.” She tried to make her voice very even but it was hard.

 _“What? Are they okay? Where are you? Can I help?”_ The list of questions flew out of her mouth. Nicole filled her in with as much information as she could. She could hear the girl’s voice start to choke up as she mentioned the assailants had already killed someone. “ _I can’t lose her.”_

Nicole almost broke just at the sound of her sad voice. Before she hung up, she promised to do everything she could to get them both home safely. Closing the phone, she marched back over to Dolls who was on the phone with the hostages. He was denying them any cars or help. Playing hard ball was not going to work with these people. Nicole grew up in a town just like this and the crazy’s didn’t respond well to “no.”

“You either let my deputy go, or we will take you out one by one.” Nicole was a rookie but in her hostage negotiation training that was literally the one thing you didn’t say. She jumped when she heard the gun shot come through the phone. She grabbed it and put it to her ear.

“This is officer Haught you will be dealing with me now. What are your demands?” Dolls gave her a look that could kill a full grown man. She didn’t care and put a hand up to him. She nodded a long listening to what they wanted. “Okay, I’ll make you a deal here. You need leverage to get out of this beyond what you have. I will bring the van to you personally and you can exchange me for the rest of the hostages.”

Nicole didn’t know that they needed Wynonna. She didn’t even know why they were robbing the store in the first place. They demanded to keep one other hostage as well and she agreed. She just hoped it wouldn’t be Wynonna.

“Someone get me a van now!” She promised it would be there in fifteen minutes. As she hung up the phone and handed it back to Dolls, she waited for the ass reaming that was about to happen.

“Officer Haught,” his voice was venom. “When this is over, not only will you be out of a job but you’ll be lucky not to be tried for treason.” He slammed the truck door shut in front of her face and snarled, “You’ve got fifteen minutes.”

She swallowed hard and prepared herself. They brought the van around right on time and she pulled it in front of the building. She left it running and walked into the front of the store hands up. “I have everything ready,” she called out. “release the hostages and we can leave.”

One by one, three people walked out including Champ. Just as she feared, they kept Wynonna back with them. Once everyone else was out, she slowly walked to the back, hands up. On the floor, slumped in the corner was Shorty. He seemed to be bleeding from somewhere but she wasn’t sure. There was another man on the floor bleeding out from bullet holes in the back. They had turned on each other.

“Let’s go.” She sounded like a child. They pointed a gun at her and signaled it to the door so she would walk. They pushed Wynonna next to her as well. “You okay?” Nicole asked.

“I thought I was supposed to be the reckless idiot in this town,” she responded with her usual mirth. “Thank you for trying to get us out of this.” The last comment had an unusual sincerity to it.

“Didn’t do it for you,” she mumbled.

They shoved them out into the street and used the van as protection. Both men climbed into the back and directed Nicole to drive. As she walked around the vehicle to the driver’s seat, she spotted a new face in the crowd. Waverly was standing with Champ who was rambling but the second she saw Nicole she started moving away from him towards the barrier and Dolls. Nicole couldn’t make out what she was saying but there was a worried look in her eyes. _You’re about to drive a car with some crazy lunatics and her sister, of course she’s worried Nicole_.

Nicole gave her a nod and hopped into the driver’s seat. She peeled out and towards where they were directing her. After twenty minutes of driving, they began talking excitedly in the back, enough to where they didn’t notice Wynonna and her starting a conversation of their own.

“Do you have a plan here Haughstuff or did it stop at martyrdom?” She looked back to make sure they weren’t paying attention.

“Of course I have a plan.” She turned her eyes down to her side and used her hand to pull her shirt up. Stuffed into the front of her pants was Peacemaker. “I’m not sure why Dolls thought this was so important but he said if I got this to you, that is the only plan we would need.”

Wynonna stared at the gun in complete adoration. “Nicole, I have never been so excited for a person to unzip their pants.”  Nicole almost lost her focus on the road. Even in dire situations, Wynonna still managed to be crude and well, very Wynonna.  

“I need something to cut these ties.” She looked around the floor but didn’t see anything useful. Nicole scratched behind her ear and pulled out a tiny blade. She placed it slyly on the cushion of Wynonna’s seat.

Once again, Wynonna looked at her predatorily. “Remind me to buy you a drink when we get out of this.”

Nicole huffed to herself. “No offense, but you Earps are not that great about following through on drinks.” She turned off on a side road and started going up a hill. They pulled in front of an old barn and Nicole put the car in park.

“Let’s go!” The taller, uglier of the two called them to get out of the car. Wynonna pretended to be tied up still and held up her hands.

“Sorry boys, you’re gonna have to get the door for me like real gentleman.”

“Get her out of there.” The man yelled to Nicole. She walked around and held her hands up. They were standing in front of a small fire pit. She opened the door and obscured their view. She took a step back and lifted her hands up in the air, so they didn’t think anything was going on.

Wynonna released her hands and reached to the front of Nicole’s pants. “Sorry about this officer.” She took the gun out and as she did pushed Nicole back towards the car, causing her to hit her head on the side of the door. She crumpled to the ground. Wynonna swiftly moved around the door and positioned herself in front of the two men. The shots came off quickly and they were engulfed by flames instantly.

She ran back over to Nicole who was only temporarily incapacitated. “You okay?” Wynonna helped her up and sat her in the front seat. Nicole felt at her temple that started to bulge up.

“What was that for?” She asked annoyed.

“If they shot I didn’t want you to get to hit. I guess I didn’t know my own strength.” Wynonna had gotten good at lying.

“Where did they go?”

“I got a good shot at them but they had four wheelers and were able to take off. We were just their escape route.” Wynonna didn’t even believe her own story. “Let’s just get back to town and get some other cops on it.”

Wynonna drove them back to town and wanted to drop Nicole at the hospital but the redhead refused. She had to deal with the man first. They pulled up in front of the police station and Nicole nearly fell over getting out of the car. Wynonna helped her inside. All of the officers still in the pin, stood up. Nedley came out of his office and his face was not happy. He walked right up to Nicole and put a firm hand on her shoulder. She was waiting for the immediate dismissal from the force. Instead, he began clapping. Everyone joined in and there were several cheers. “You saved a lot of people today. Both of you did. That was very a brave thing to do. Stupid, but brave.”

“Very stupid,” Dolls came out of the office and walked towards them. He glared and gave them a once over. “…but since there was only one casualty, I will consider this a win for both departments.”

“Shorty didn’t make it?” Wynonna asked sadly. Dolls nodded “no.”

Nicole’s heart fell. He was a good guy. Her thoughts turned to his favorite employee. “Sir, if I might can I go?” He dismissed her and she started out the door, still wobbling. She made it a few steps before collapsing.

She woke up an unknown number of hours later in a hospital bed. The lights were unnecessarily bright and the beeping machines next to her instantly made her uncomfortable. She blinked rapidly to try and regain control of her vision but it just made her head split open again. There wasn’t anyone in the room with her but there were voices outside. She closed her eyes and focused on those.

“Champ, she saved your life…and Wynonna’s. Can you just try for one second to have some compassion?” Nicole knew that voice instantly. At this point, she could have died and gone to heaven because the angels would have sounded just as sweet.

“What about my trauma? What about what I have been through today? I just wanted to go home with my girl and deal with that. You have been so different lately, I don’t like it.” On the other hand, she could have died and gone to hell because the sound of his voice was hellish.

“Ten more minutes, please.”

“No. Stay here or go with me but that’s it.” Nicole wanted to get out of her bed and knock the meathead in his beef tip noggin. She tried opening her mouth to tell Waverly to just go but no words came out. Even though she wanted her to stay, the rejection would be easier if she was the one to tell her to go.

“Then, I think I’m going to stay.”

“What?” Champ’s words were Nicole’s thoughts.

“You’re right Champ. I am a different person. I’m better than I’ve ever been which means I respect myself enough to end this once and for all.” He left without a word, completely dumbfounded.

Waverly walked back into the room and slumped into the chair. She wasn’t sure what family Nicole had around but she wanted to make sure there was at least one person by her side when she woke up. Nicole coughed a bit to indicate her consciousness.

“Hey!” Waverly perked up and leaned over towards the bed. “How are you feeling?”

She put her hand to her head and felt at the now very prominent knot. “Like I was hulk smashed.”

“You were Wynonna smashed, so basically the same thing.” Waverly’s hand straightened the blankets at Nicole’s side. She reached behind her on the side table and brought over a white foam cup. “I brought you a coffee…but then I drank it…and then I spit it out because hospital coffee probably causes most of the deaths around her.” She smiled sheepishly.

Nicole sat up farther, wincing at the head rush. She was about to make a witty comment back but then she remembered what she had been going to do before she passed out. “Waverly, I am so sorry about Shorty. I tried to keep them all safe. He was alre-” Waverly put a finger up to her mouth.

“You were so brave to go in there. You could have been killed. I know you did everything you could to help them for me…” She blinked back tears and grabbed Nicole’s hand before finishing, “…but I need you to be safe too.”

Nicole’s eyes went down to their hands first and then back to Waverly’s beautiful eyes. She didn’t know what to say. “Waves…” Before she could say something wildly romantic or heroic, a nurse came by and knocked on the door.

“Visiting hours are over.” Waverly quickly undid their hands. Her mind finally caught up with her mouth and she realized she might have said too much too soon. She got up and walked to the door, much to Nicole’s dismay.

“Come see me when you get your head back on straight, I’ll get you a coffee.” She began to walk away.

“That might take some time…” Nicole shouted out to her. Waverly came back and gave her a questioning eyebrow raise.

“My head has never been straight,” she winked.

“Goodnight, Officer.” Waverly said sweetly, slowly turning away.

 

 


End file.
